There sure are some nifty new electronic components coming out these days! (Three axis accelerometers! Five watt LEDs!) The only issue seems to be that none of them are available in good old through-hole packages. But don’t worry, because surface mount soldering is not nearly as scary as you might think – there’s loads of tricks to make it easy for anyone. Hand soldering, reflow methods, tools and techniques are all covered. Your circuits will be sturdier, more powerful and a lot prettier. Let’s get tiny!

Your challenge is to build a machine in 24 hours (or less) that can fling the tastiest foodstuff the longest distance with the most style. Teams can bring in any supplies they want (up to $150 worth– We will be asking for receipts at the door!), but you can’t put anything together until the start of the competition. From then on out, it’s a free-for-all to build your contraption using the supplies you’ve brought in alongside the supplies at the LVL1 hackerspace.

Are you the fastest solder in the west? Come on down to SHHH August 18 at the VHS (45 Hastings, alley entrance) and find out. We provide the gear, you provide the skills. First place and second place winners get a Seeeduino. The rest get to flail and gnash in misery and despair. The Drawbots will be there, the 3D printers will be there, and everyone will have an awesome time. I hear a rumor there may even be live music.. Remember kids, safety third and August 18 from 7pm until really really really late. See you there!

Sometimes you just can’t find a rope with the feel that you want. Maybe that soft 4 strand hemp is a little out of your price range. We will show you how to make rope out of just about any sting, yarn, twine or cord. This ancient art is really not as difficult as it may seem. We will also show you how to make your own rope making equipment. Feel free to bring your own yarn or twine to make your own unique rope.

This Friday, Aug 17th – Free & open to the public.
Doors open at 7pm, event starts shortly thereafter.
We’re at 1936 Fifth Avenue, in the garage around back (on Watson).

Look for our flag over the door.

Wifi Hack Vectors Workshop at HackMiami

Ariel Braverman will go over different vulnerabilities and attack vectors that common FREE WI-FI users are exposed at coffee shops, airports, subway, etc. A complete demonstration on how attackers can compromise a free wi-fi network, record and view its traffic even through SSL.

Don’t be bummed that the Summer is over. Join Bloomington’s Makerspace, Bloominglabs, for our Open House Saturday, September 8 from 10am to 3pm to see what we’ve been up to. We’ll have projects on display, some games, and we’ll be having a cookout, too. Come see our new tools including a mill and a lathe we recently restored. You can get in on the action yourself making molds with the vacuum former or you can make some speakers or water rockets. You can pick up a TV-B-Gone kit if you feel inspired to start soldering. Weather permitting we’ll be launching water rockets and Twinkies outside. We’re at 3927 W. Roll Avenue in Bloomington, IN, hope to see you there!

Raspberry Pi Workshop at NYC Resistor

The Raspberry Pi foundation is stopping at NYC Resistor on their Hackerspace Roadshow. Come and join us for an evening with talks and hands-on time with the Raspberry Pi. Special guests from Adafruit will be joining us as well, with some of the awesome stuff they’ve designed for making your Pi even more tasty.

The Raspberry Pi is a tiny, insanely cheap mini computer. It combines a 700mhz ARM processor, a GPU, hardware h.264 decoding, and a bunch of GPIO pins for interacting with the real world, all for about $25. The Pi was designed with students in mind, but there’s tons of potential for interactivity, robotics, and art when you can literally afford to build the computer into your installations.

Talk:
RaspberryPi: Past, Present & Future – An introduction to the RaspberryPi, including an overview of its history and development, details on the technical specification and an outline of future developments with many cool tech demos along the way. Followed by a Q&A session